Abstract
Objective. To evaluate the incidence of deep vein thrombosis in hospitalized Chinese medical patients and the impact of DVT prophylaxis. Methods. All cases of confirmed proximal DVT from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2008 were reviewed retrospectively to determine the presence of risk factors and whether DVT developed: during hospitalization in medical wards or in case of readmission with a diagnosis of DVT within 14 days of discharge from a recent admission to medical wards. The impact of prophylaxis will be estimated by comparing the annual incidence of proximal DVT among medical patients hospitalized from 2005 to 2007 with that of 2008 (DVT prophylaxis commonly used). Results. From 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2008, 3938 Doppler ultrasound studies were performed for suspected DVT. Proximal DVT was diagnosed in 687 patients. The calculated incidence of proximal DVT among medical patients hospitalized for at least two days was 1.8%, 2%, and 1.7% for the year 2005, 2006, and 2007, respectively. The incidence was 1.1% for 2008 (P < .001). Conclusion. Proximal DVT was substantial in Chinese medical patients, and DVT prophylaxis might reduce such risk.
Highlights
Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) are common and serious complications occurring in hospitalized patients [1, 2]
There was little data about the incidence of DVT among Chinese patients admitted to a medical ward
It was widely believed that the incidence of DVT was much lower among the Chinese population than Caucasians, and prophylaxis was generally considered not necessary
Summary
Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) are common and serious complications occurring in hospitalized patients [1, 2] Many medical conditions such as malignancy, neurological diseases with paresis, cardiac failure, and acute myocardial infarction are associated with increased risk of thromboembolism [3]. Recent studies had shown that the incidence of postoperative DVT in Asian countries was significant [9, 10] Asian patients with hip fractures, undergoing total hip and total knee replacements without pharmacological prophylaxis had postoperative DVT rates of 17–58% and proximal DVT rates of 5.8–17.1% These rates were comparable to that reported in Western populations. Among patients with risk factor such as malignancy, stroke heart failure or respiratory failure, the incidence of proximal DVT ranged between 3.8 and 6.3% and was
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